Month: June 2019

Soccer has long been played without much technological aid and influence. All that has been needed was a soccer ball, players, referees, assistant referees, cameramen to broadcast games, etc. Recent times have seen advanced technology such as goal-line technology and VAR (video assistant referee). These two technology addition has impacted the game, especially in recent competitions, some good and others bad. In the end, the technology is intended to aid in helping to assist and clear up some human decision making (referee) and make the game fairer for the teams participating in the field. 

VAR is considered an official in the game who reviews certain decisions made by the head referee during the game, this is done through video footage and communication through a headset. The instances that this system help to clear up include, mistaken identity when one is awarded a red or yellow card, penalty or no penalty situations, a goal or no goal, free kick or no free-kick decision, etc. This system was officially implemented in the game of soccer all around the league in 2018 to help clear up obvious errors. So far there have been great benefits to it as intended and a few times not so beneficial.

Goal-line technology is simply the use of a sensor (electronic aid) to help determine if a goal has been scored or not. July 2012 was when this technology was officially approved to be used in the game worldwide after an initial and second phase testing. I believe this technology has been certainly crucial to the game at the highest level. Of course, some longtime soccer fans are used to the legacy system and don’t adapt to change easily. They also feel like it takes away certain aspects to the game and slows it down. All that is wanted from this tech is better clarity with decision making as the slightest mistake made during a game at the highest level can affect the outcome so much.

One slight downside to all this tech is that I see is with the high capital involved in acquiring and using all these technologies. With this they are only typically invested in at the highest level divisions of the different country’s domestic leagues, and also major international competitions. I am all for the technology additions to help eliminate as many human errors in decision making, are you?

Ever since its existence soccer has been seen mostly to be a male sport. This assumption was, in fact, a reality until recent times where female soccer has been more and more recognized. I believe the reason for this recent recognition is as a result of the awareness of our society now to equality. Even though inequality was a major reason I also believe the general appeal for true soccer fans was just not available which could have also been as a result of the lack of open-mindedness.

As I was growing up playing soccer I saw the opposite gender play it as well but people were always more drawn to the male version than the female version. People didn’t like how much the female version was slower and less tactical. The pace of the game is certainly different as athletically the male gender tends to have more capabilities than the female gender. Fans for this sport generally get used to seeing the pace males play at and try to compare it to the female version which should never be that case. We have to look at them from their own views and enjoy them for what they each present.

I have found myself watching women’s soccer more and more over the years, especially during the world cup event in which the USA women’s soccer team usually dominates. Even though I have practiced with and against some of the most skilled women soccer players I believe that both genders have to be looked at from different perspective and rather not compared. True soccer fans have a love for the game and not the gender participating in it. It is a continual hope for women soccer to keep growing in popularity, attention and regards just like the men’s. With what has been shared so far, do you think there is a pay disparity as well? If so, what do you think the reason may be?

The FIFA world cup is an international competition which is contested by the national teams of different countries worldwide ranging from the senior men’s national team, their different lower divisional teams, the women’s senior national teams, and the different divisional teams as well. The most popular and common of them all is the senior men’s national teams’ competition as they draw the most attention. This tournament is held every 4 years by a host country selected through a bidding and exhaustive ballot system 7 years in advance.

Now, this is a question to you all. Do you think hosting this tournament has any positive impacts or benefits to the host country? Well, the answer is definitely yes. Economically, a host nation benefits greatly from it as this creates a huge avenue for business openings, job creation, increases revenue for tourist attraction sites, and infrastructure improvements. All these benefits can be expanded on to better help one understand how a country’s economic activity gets increased. In addition to economic factors, a country can benefit socially as well. Socially a country is able to encourage its citizens to fully come and support their country. With this, they are able to exhibit their civic identity, different cultural identities and a sense of great unity which can help rub off on visiting tourists in a positive way.

Even though the benefits are a lot more than listed above, hosting a world cup event in general, helps to promote its already large market, enhance and enrich the game we all love and take national pride in. If you’re not a soccer fan I think this will be a good time to join as the United States, Mexico and Canada plan on collaborating and hosting together “United 2026” World cup. This should certainly help propel football globally and enhance the community. ARE YOU READY FOR THE RIDE?

Now let’s talk briefly about a major backbone organization for the game of football, FIFA (The Fédération Internationale de Football Association which is French for ‘International Federation of Association Football’). This is an international organization seen as a governing entity for all football-related games and events, notably the World Cup which all nations battle to participate in. There is always a sense of national pride at those events and always is a professional footballer’s dream come true to represent their countries on that stage. This Organization was founded on the 21st of May 1904 in Paris, France with simple goals of governing this game worldwide. FIFA is currently headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland and with its president being Gianni Infantino who is a Swiss–Italian.

“For the Game. For the World” is the motto that helps shed light on its true purpose and ambition. It has 211 national associations as members now. These member countries must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania, and South America. All nations are well represented in this organization.

It is quite impressive how this organization markets this sport worldwide through different avenues. They partner up with so many sponsors of which Coca-Cola, Hyundai-Kia Motors, Visa and Adidas have been and remained their loyal, long-term partners. They all help to generate revenue and make sure all tournaments held are to the highest standards with success. One of my personal favorite products they have on the market with EA sports as the makers are the FIFA video game that comes out every year. One does not need to know how to play the sport to understand the video game, although it makes it easier for people that do play the sport to have a better experience and insight about the video game. Please follow me on twitter , @aaddoatiemo for insights about this sport!

To blog about soccer does not necessarily need one’s personal experience with it, but I would like to use this great opportunity to share my experience with this beautiful sport. From a very young age, most active kids have some kind of ball or toy they liked to kick around which brought them much joy, a sense of happiness and satisfaction. The act of kicking does not need to be taught or coached, one just does it. So this sport as far as I can remember started right when I ever kicked a ball around and chased after it.

As I was growing up I always found the game so fascinating which led to by extreme fondness over it. The game is very cheap and based on a very simple concept. All you need is a ball of any sort to get things started. Additional things such as cleats, shin guards, jersey and such all come in as one dives deeper and deeper into it.
Growing up in West Africa, Ghana, soccer was and still is the most popular sport. I found myself watching soccer games and videos to learn things to do so I could practice myself. Unorganized soccer games after the school day was a ritual as everyone gathered around to play. Having an uncle that played professional soccer in Germany at the time made it my ambition to be a professional soccer player as well. I played on every level possible on school teams until I moved to the United States about 9 years ago.

The dream of still going pro never changed as I worked hard and had the opportunity of playing for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas division 1 program with a partial scholarship. This opportunity had to be sadly turned down as the major I wanted to pursue which is chemical engineering wasn’t offered at the university. Due to financial issues and simplicity, it was best for me to go in State which led me to choose the University of Nevada, Reno even though an official men’s soccer program wasn’t available.

I still was able to compete by joining the men’s club soccer program which still gave me some satisfaction. Even though my career path changed abruptly and could not pursue my dream profession, the love of the game never goes away. I still play with every opportunity I get and follow worldwide events on it. My knowledge and passion for the game is a feeling no words can describe. Please comment and share your experience through your current career path. Is it the path you have always wanted?

Most commonly known as football, but soccer in the US. Soccer is a sport that is extremely influential to nations around the world, it reaches millions of individuals and is one of the most lucrative sports. Having a higher presence in other countries but still present in the United States. It is played with 11 players on the field on each side, on a standard field dimension of 105m x 68m.

Officiated by three referees, one that makes the final calls for the center field and two that work on each length of the field. The teams that participate come from a range of backgrounds. Not only does every nation have their own team but there are also smaller teams that compete in tournaments within. In addition, some of the most lucrative teams are club teams that reside in Europe, examples of these are Real Madrid FC, Barcelona FC and Liverpool FC. The ultimate goal of the national teams is to qualify for the World Cup which is a battle of the best teams in the world, which occurs every 4 years.

Awards are given to the best soccer players at the end of every year, this is considered the greatest honor within the sport. In the subsequent weeks we’re going to take a deeper dive into the world of soccer and all that there is to it including the best players, champions of the different leagues and its effects on different nations’ economies. I for one know how important this sport has been in my life, and the self-discipline it has instilled in me.